A tourist village in China’s southwestern province of Sichuan, known for its spectacular snowy landscape, said it regretted using cotton swabs and soapy water to create fake snow after online criticism from visitors went viral.

In a post on its official WeChat account on February 8, the Chengdu Snow Village Project said the weather was hot during the Lunar New Year holiday at the end of January and the village did not prepare as expected.

The country’s meteorological bureau has warned that China will face hotter and longer heat waves and more frequent and unpredictable heavy rainfall due to climate change.

“The tourist village bought cotton for the snow to create a ‘snowy’ atmosphere,” the Chengdu Snow Village Project said in a statement.

After receiving feedback from the majority of netizens, the tourist area began cleaning up all the cotton.

The village said it “truly apologized” for the changes and that tourists could get a refund.

The website has since been shut down.

Photos on WeChat showed large sheets of cotton wool scattered across the grounds, with only the green areas partially covered.

A thick layer of snow covering the houses in the area appeared, but as you get closer, it was all cotton, said one netizen.

“A snow village without snow,” said another user.

“In today’s well-developed Internet era, scenic spots must be advertised truthfully and avoid deception or false advertising, otherwise they will shoot themselves in the foot.”